plant stem
Sign in to savestructural axis of a vascular plant, supporting leaves, flowers and fruits
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A plant stem is the main structural support that holds up a plant's leaves, flowers, and fruits. It matters because without this framework, these important plant parts couldn't be positioned to capture sunlight, reproduce, or develop seeds.
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Stem showing internode and nodes plus leaf petioles This above-ground stem of Polygonum has lost its leaves, but is producing adventitious roots from the nodes. Xylem and Phloem A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, engages in photosynthesis, stores nutrients, and produces new living tissue. The stem can also be called the culm, halm, haulm, stalk, or thyrsus. The woody stem of a tree is known as a trunk.
The stem is normally divided into nodes and internodes: